Alpharma jumps on earnings news

RussBritt

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) - Shares of Alpharma surged by more than half Tuesday after the drugmaker reported earnings that were more than four times that of expectations, underscoring a positive showing for the biopharma sectors.

Alpharma
ALO, -0.32%
skyrocketed by $7.23, or 52.5%, to $21 after the company reported profits of 38 cents a share, excluding a one-time charge of 1 cent, on revenue of $367.9 million. Analysts, on average, had expected revenue of 9 cents a share on revenue of $340.3 million.

Meanwhile, Nastech Pharmaceutical Co.
NSTK
plunged by $1.37, or 9.3%, to $13.41 a day after the company announced plans for a public offering of stock and reported a loss of $8.3 million, or 47 cents a share.

And several companies experienced heavy pricing activity as their earnings reports neared. Amylin Pharmaceuticals
AMLN
jumped $1.35, or 6.6%, to $21.71. The company is expected to report second-quarter earnings on Thursday.

Finally, Nitromed Inc.
NTMD
lost 51 cents, or 2.1%, to $23.65. Nitromed is set to report its earnings on Wednesday.

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